Tissue products such as facial tissue, bath tissue, paper towels, industrial wipers, and the like are designed to provide several important properties. For example, the products should have good bulk characteristics and a soft feel. The products should be highly absorbent to fluids, including bodily fluids. In many cases, the products need good strength even after they become wet. Some products require a high resistance to tearing. Small changes in the structure or manufacturing processes of such products can provide a profound impact on the ultimate sensation to the user. Attempts have been made in the past to enhance and increase the physical characteristics of multi-ply tissue products.
Traditionally multi-ply tissue products employ plies that are structurally similar and manufactured using similar papermaking techniques. In certain instances, however, attempts have been made to form multi-ply products from heterogeneous plies. Generally these products are formed using a ply that while providing some beneficial property, is not suitable for contact with the user and therefore must be disposed in the center of a three ply product. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,847 to Rothe et al. discloses a multi-ply tissue product where the middle ply of a three ply product comprises a virucidal. The virucidal containing ply is disposed in the middle ply, away from the surface, to avoid contact with the user's skin. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,497,923 to Ward et al. discloses a multi-ply tissue product where the middle ply of a three ply product comprises an uncreped through-air dried ply disposed between two smoother creped plies. In this manner, the uncreped ply provides bulk but does not compromise the softness of the product because it is not brought into contact with the user in use. While these products provide certain benefits to the user, they lack differing surface textures, which limits their usefulness.
In other instances, the prior art has attempted to improve tissue product absorbency by providing a multi-ply tissue product with an absorbent core in the center, such as provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,556 to Barnholtz. The stated goal of such tissues is increased absorbency by providing a three ply tissue product in which the center ply comprises a more dense, thinner ply. While such products generally have improved absorbency, the dense, thin middle layers compromise softness and fail to provide the user with differing surface textures for different applications.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a tissue product having two different surface characteristics. More specifically there is a need in the art for a multi-ply tissue product having a substantially smooth first surface for contact with a user's skin and a second textured surface for wiping and scrubbing applications.